The purpose of this invention is related, as its title indicates, to a device for the alternate or simultaneous filming of still and video pictures or multipurpose camera which affords some major advantages over the means currently being used for this purpose.
Currently, due to the growing popularity of video cameras, due basically to factors including those such as the lower price thereof, in addition to their having become easier to handle and more versatile, this has led to many users deciding to film video accounts in order to keep a record of trips, social events, sporting events, family events, investigations, etc. in picture form. Nevertheless, most users are still making a record of the same events in still pictures and/or taking snapshots which are being used in many cases as a supplement to the video film or other picture-taking means.
There are different products on the market which have attempted to combine or link the fields of video and still photography. Hence, there are, on one hand, CR-type cameras which store the pictures on a storage medium or disc, affording the possibility of the subsequent processing of said pictures. Likewise, there are different types of picture printers which make it possible to make a paper print of a video picture from a VCR, a television, a computer or similar systems. Likewise, there are different models of improved cameras which afford the possibility of developing still photographs on paper or slides from a video frame by taking a snapshot of the VCR screen.
However, none of the currently-existing systems affords the possibility of simultaneously shooting still and video pictures while in operation. Hence, said equipment is limited exclusively to a complex and very limitedly versatile subsequent processing which involves stages of setup, of tracking or searching for pictures and of printing which in most cases are highly time-consuming and involve complex data processing systems to control the entire set of pictures of which a user may avail. Apart from this, most of these systems do not function directly with the light, as would be desirable on the part of any technician in the field of photography, but rather the final product is processed based on more or less highly involved circuitry and/or software-based changes made in an electrical, magnetic or digital signal. Additionally, the cost of these systems leads to their being beyond the reach of non-professional users in most cases.
For the purpose of efficiently correcting the shortcomings currently existing in these systems and of providing a suitable link between the fields of video and still photography, the device for the alternate or simultaneous filming of still photographs and video or multipurpose camera comprising the object of this invention has been developed.
The present invention has to do with a device built by combining a video camera and a still camera in one single device which can function either simultaneously or separately as a camera for filming video and/or taking still shots.
To this end, the device for the alternate or simultaneous filming of still and video pictures or multipurpose camera comprising the object of the present invention incorporates the components inherent to a video camera as well as to a still camera, one sole interchangeable lens, an optical assembly, in addition to a system of prisms, mirrors or other similar reflecting components which transmits the virtual image, understood to be the image which has not undergone any electrical, magnetic or digital processing, which has been recorded to the video mechanism and to the still mechanism for its individual, alternate or simultaneous processing.
To achieve the proper working order of the device for the alternate or simultaneous filming of still or video pictures or multipurpose camera comprising the object of the present invention, a switch is provided for setting one of the four operating modes, which are, device off or disabled, video camera operating mode, still camera operating mode and simultaneous video camera and still camera operating mode, characterized because by means of pressing one single double button, one of the many frames of which a certain video filming is comprised is recorded in still form.
For the purpose of achieving a device for the alternate or simultaneous filming of still and video pictures or versatile, easy-to-handle and economical multipurpose camera, there are different common components which are used in both the video camera and in the still camera, such as, the optical assembly, the photometric system, different electronic circuitry, date stamps, etc. Likewise, it is provided with one single optical viewfinder which works the same way, simultaneously, both for the video camera and for the still camera, in any of the operating modes of the device, located in a position on the central lengthwise axis of the upper surface of the device, with the ability to revolve on either a horizontal or vertical plane, of a telescopic type, and capable of being folded up into the camera body for carrying.
Lastly, the device for the alternate or simultaneous filming of still and video pictures or multipurpose camera is preferably equipped with means for connection to other film processing means, such as film printers, making the device comprising the object of the present invention compatible with other currently-existing film processing systems.
Based upon all that which is described hereinabove, the advantages afforded by the device for the alternate or simultaneous filming of still and video pictures or multipurpose camera comprising the object of the present invention are readily inferred, such as, the fact of combining the video camera and still camera functions in one single, simple device, making it possible to use both picture processing techniques, both separately and simultaneously, by means of setting the operating mode using a single switch, with the added advantage of the resulting savings on space and weight, without the need of including any subsequent picture processing.